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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22553500">Family</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexisriversong/pseuds/alexisriversong'>alexisriversong</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark Bingo [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, F/M, Introspection, Multi, POV Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:55:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22553500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexisriversong/pseuds/alexisriversong</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony's almost death experiences and how he gets over them, kinda.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Avengers Team</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark Bingo [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1289582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>COW-T - the Clash Of the Writing Titans, Marvel Polyship Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for COWT! Prompt M2: Serene, snow, darkness</p><p>Cross-posted with Marvel poly bingo, card 3032 prompt: Blackhole </p><p>And Tony Stark bingo, prompt: T5 - I’ll sleep when I’m dead</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When you are born, there is only one certain fact in your future, you are going to die, one day, in your future, be far or close, you are going to cease existing. As everyone else, Tony Stark had known that death would come for him eventually, he just had no idea it would come so soon or pass him by so many times.</p><p>The first time, was in college, after his parents death, he let go completely and started doing heavier and heavier drugs and mixing them with so much alcohol that he ended up in a coma. That time, when he woke up after the doctors had pumped his stomach and cleansed his organism from the drugs and alcohol, the first face he saw, was Rhodey’s. The next one, was Stane’s, he had never been happier to see them in his whole life.</p><p>After going to rehab, he put that experience behind him. Almost forgot about it, until Afghanistan.</p><p>Waking up hooked to stuff always meant trouble, that stuff to be a giant battery that was keeping him alive, that was worse. That time, he woke to a stranger looking down in his eyes. Yinsen was a good man, helped him run away, died for him.</p><p>When Stane took his arc reactor, Dummy saved him and Pepper was the first face he saw when he woke up after the giant arc reactor exploded, taking the traitor with him. She was a soothing sight for his sore eyes, he knew he could trust her with everything. She was an anchor. He saw Rhodey right behind her, the other anchor in his life.</p><p>While with Rhodey there was never a sexual or romantic relationship, with Pepper there was the start of something and he decided to let himself have the possibility to be happy.</p><p>When he met the Avengers and was told about Loki, he knew it was going to be hard and he was probably not going to make it. He was only a genius, billionaire in a tin can, what chance had he to survive aliens invading Earth?</p><p>As Tony held the nuke in his gauntleted arms, he realized, he was not alone anymore, he maybe never was. The blackhole was looking over him, taunting him. HE tried to say goodbye, he really did, Pepper did not answer. He flew in the middle of the enormous blackhole in the middle of New York’s sky and…</p><p>The darkness engulfed him and he couldn’t feel anything anymore.</p><p>He had always thought that the universe would be brighter, the sky would be full of stars and beautiful. All he could remember of the sky beyond the blackhole though, was darkness and aliens trying to invade Earth.</p><p>That time, he woke up to Steve’s face looming over him and the Hulk roaring in his face. He had no idea how he did it, but he was so glad to have cheated death yet again. That night, when they were all eating Shawarma in a run-down Indian place, he realized they could become as trusted as Pepper and Rhodes. A family.</p><p>After the Battle of New York, he kept having nightmares. He dreamt of falling, of loosing everyone, of not making it in time and letting the nuke explode on the city, he started staying up longer and longer hours to work. Pepper was annoyed but she said nothing.</p><p>“I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” he kept repeating to everyone who bothered him about it, no one ever mentioned how close he had been to that. He was not the only one with weird hours, he realized that most of the team members walked around the tower at night and, some of them, decided it would be more comfortable to sit on the sofa in the lab and keep him company.</p><p>He didn’t know how or why, but, soon enough, they were all together, one big family, loving each other. He even built an enormous bed when he realized he could sleep better with his group of misfits in the same place, like a big puppy litter. No one minded and soon enough they all grew even closer, romantically and sometimes, sexually.</p><p>It was a relief to have someone to fall into when someone got hurt, having a full team to keep you warm and safe during cold nights, helped him sleep. He kept having nightmares but, at least, he knew he was not alone and had people he could actually talk to about them when he woke up.</p><p>There was almost a fallout when they discovered that Bucky Barnes was alive, brainwashed and accused of killing a king and oh! He was Tony’s parents murderer. They all fought each other but, in the end, Tony calmed down enough to clear the air and decide that Bucky was not so bad after all, it was not his fault. In Siberia, staring at the video, he had already accepted the fact, Steve had told him as soon as he had realized after all. They captured the killer and brought Barnes back.</p><p>In the end, they all accepted to sign the Sokovia Accords and were pardoned. It took a while for Steve to join the puppy pile again. When he did, he brought Barnes along. Tony accepted everything in good grace and just positioned himself the farthest away from him. He had helped removing Hydra’s programming from the soldier, but he was still weary of him.</p><p>Tony was watching the snow falling outside the Tower’s window, when he realized he was finally happy, serene, calm, a couple of fights in, he had decided he could trust Barnes and he had completely been integrated in their family. He was happy, with them and they were happy with him.</p><p>So fitting, the winter soldier starting his new life in winter. Tony smiled at the snow covering everything up, giving everything a new color, a blank slate. The darkness in his life was still there, the nightmares had only increased and he still had trouble sleeping, but now, he knew that he was not alone and could count on all of his team to keep him sane, even Bucky Barnes.</p><p>In the end, it was almost like every time he escaped death, he came back with something else, something precious, something to love and to cherish. His life got better and better. Love, family, he had never been happier.</p><p>When Pepper gave birth to Morgan, the little girl was the apex of his happiness. She would be the luckiest girl in the world. She had lots of parents to raise her up right after all. A whole family of superheroes.</p>
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